The Swiss IPP completed the first 5.3 MW phase of the project in February. It has finalized separate 20-year PPAs for each site with regional utility Tohoku Electric Power, at a feed-in tariff (FIT) rate of ¥36 ($0.32)/kWh. Hitachi High-Technologies served as EPC contractor on the multi-phase project, which is expected to generate about 10.7 GWh of electricity per year, according to an online statement.
The four sites were completed ahead of schedule and below budget, said Marco A. Northland, chief executive of Etrion. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank provided roughly $61 million to support construction of the arrays.
Etrion — which is listed on the stock markets in Toronto and Stockholm — now operates 43 MW of solar in Japan, with an additional 13 MW currently under construction. It now has more than 250 MW of PV capacity in various stages of development throughout the country. Among other projects, it expects to start building 40-50 MW of solar capacity in southern Japan’s Kumamoto prefecture by the end of this year.
Globally, Etrion operates 114 MW of installed solar capacity, in Japan and Chile. Last December, it sold a 60 MW portfolio of PV projects in Italy to EF Solare Italia, which is a joint venture between Enel Green Power and Fondo Italiano per le Infrastrutture. It said it divested the €78.1 million portfolio to free up resources to expand in the Japanese market. In February of this year, the company hired a new managing director for its business in Japan.
In March, Etrion reported a net loss of $110.4 million. However, revenue from its solar projects in Japan and Chile soared 46.2% on the year to $15.2 million, it said.
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